


Be My Dagger and I’ll Be Your Rose

by HazzilyEverAfter



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: And How They Helped Each Other Get Over Zayn's Departure, Fluff, Friendship, Harry Is A Rose, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, I Suppose That's It..., Louis Is A Dagger, M/M, This Is Basically Harry's Thoughts on How Much He Loves His Bandmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:59:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5644936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazzilyEverAfter/pseuds/HazzilyEverAfter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s messy, and hard, and sometimes Harry feels like he can’t do it. Too much has changed, too little can be done to fix it, and Harry feels that maybe for the first time, there’s something that he can’t conquer with his four favourite people by his side.</p><p>But then he reminds himself of sunshine and hope, of teddy bears and loyal puppies, of the thing called tomorrow, of the happiness that could be, and, most importantly, of daggers and roses, and he realises.</p><p>As long as they stick together, the four of them can do anything. </p><p>OR</p><p>It’s 2015, and Zayn has left the band.</p><p>Niall, Liam, Harry and Louis are left to pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be My Dagger and I’ll Be Your Rose

**Author's Note:**

> So, nothing actually happens in this... I'm pretty sure there isn't even dialogue.
> 
> I was just bored, so decided to write it. :P
> 
> This fic is literally just Harry thinking of how the boys helped each other get over Zayn leaving the band, and how much he loves them.
> 
> I put a Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson tag in, but they're just already in an implied relationship, and nobody even makes an appearance.
> 
> Anyways, I still hope you enjoy it, and feel free to leave comments! x

Harry would be lying if he said that things haven’t changed. And Harry may be a lot of things, but he’s not a liar.

He’s not saying that Zayn’s departure has left a hole in the bulletproof wall that they’d all carefully constructed around each other, because their wall was always faulty at best, and downright flimsy at worst. They’d never been terribly good at ignoring the jibes from the haters, or powering through all the rumours and bad press that the media had pulled out of their arses, or reading all the spiteful twitter mentions filling their notifications in steady streams and brushing them off, or putting on a brave face for the cameras when all they really wanted was to curl up and just breathe for once. But they never had the time.

Each event took it's toll on every single one of them, even if they could never let it show. They were all vulnerable, and, after five years, he’d thought that they’d have gained enough experience to have learnt to deal with it, but each put-down still leaves a heavy impression on his heart.

And Harry’s not being ungrateful, either – he knows that he’s so, so lucky to be here, to have so many dedicated fans, to have made it so big, and perhaps most importantly, to have found his three best friends for life and a boyfriend who smothers him with so much unconditional love that Harry is overwhelmed, sometimes.

It’s just hard. He’s running on coffee and energy drinks more often than sleep, and he honestly doesn’t blame Zayn for wanting a break from it all; to have finally been pushed to the point of giving up and letting go. Because when does it end? Sometimes Harry feels like this is going to be his life forever, and maybe it doesn’t sound as great as it used to, anymore.

It just takes some adjustment without Zayn, that’s all. Because for five years, it’d been the five of them braving the world and conquering mountains; the five of them crossing oceans and claiming the skies; the five of them relying on each other when they needed anything that this new experience couldn’t give them. And rationally, Harry knows that five years is nothing compared to how long he’s known some of the other people in his life, but he can’t explain the bone-deep bond he has with the boys, because through the hardest moments of his life, for his emotional rollercoaster, they’d buckled in and held on for the ride. Harry honestly doesn’t think he’d have made it out alive without them.

And they fight, and they mess up sometimes, and they hurt each other – of course they do. But in the end, they all get past their disagreements and they sort it all out, because the truth is that they need each other’s support almost more than they need oxygen to breathe.

So when Zayn left, Liam, Niall, Harry and Louis had to fill in the gap left behind. And it was strange, at first - they’d all been sullen and subdued, and when they’d finally brightened up for a while, one of them would forget, and accidentally say “oh, Zayn would love that”, or “we should show Zayn”, or “you big oaf, that’s such a Zayn thing to do”, and then everything would fall back into pieces because oh, right, Zayn wasn’t there anymore.

But the four of them tried their hardest, and they all had their input on building things up again after it’d all crashed down around them.

And it’s definitely getting better. Harry can tell.

There aren’t as many storm clouds hanging over their heads, and the bags under their eyes are decreasing, although they don’t go away – they haven’t for a while.

Harry’s eternally grateful for having met all of them.

Because when Zayn first left and everything was spiralling out of control, and the clouds over their heads were so thick and unrelenting that Harry’s world turned gloomy and dark, Niall was the one to bring the light. He was sunshine personified, the only beam that penetrated the clouds and made them irrelevant, the only sun that mattered in Harry’s eyes. He bought takeout pizza for the four of them and organised lads night outs; he nagged them into playing FIFA with him when he could tell that they were getting lost in their thoughts; he whipped open curtains and pulled back the quilts in the morning and practically dragged them out of bed; and he was just there for them, making sure that they carried on with their lives and didn’t let Zayn’s absence take over.

And when Niall had successfully stopped them from constantly thinking about what a missing member could do to their careers; what the magazines were going to spin about the reasons for Zayn leaving; whether their fans would be disappointed in them; Liam took over.

When anyone felt like they needed someone to confide in, whether the matter was about Zayn or not, Liam was there. He never judged any of them, and never treated them any different after their talks, and was just so loyal and patient and understanding, that Harry isn’t sure anything he could do would ever show Liam how much he was appreciated. He was like a puppy; willing to sit and listen to you spill your deepest, darkest secrets, and even though most of the time he could never physically do anything to make it better, being there for them was enough. He was always up for a good cuddle, like an oversized teddy bear, and emotionally, he helped them all a lot.

Liam made them all feel safe, and helped them realise that the world wasn’t truly ending like it was in their heads, and was there for them when constant interviews about Zayn became too much.

And Harry thinks, if Niall is literal sunshine and Liam is a puppy and a teddy bear combined, then he himself is a rose.

He was always quick to remind the others of the beauty in life that they all sometimes missed in their rush to make it to photo shoots and album signings, of the simple things that are worth just sitting and admiring. He lets them know of all the lovely tags trending about One Direction on Twitter, of the supportive messages that fans are sending them, and makes them realise that they have such an amazing group of people backing them up; people who will always be there for them.

And if he also forces them to watch the sunsets and appreciate the smells of spring every once in a while, then nobody else has to know.

As the rose, he reminds them to never forget the passion they have for music amidst the deadlines they have to meet, he tells them to have faith in themselves and their ability as a four-person band, he makes sure that they’re balanced in the meals they eat and the time they spend working, and he shows his love to each and every one of them.

He believes that everyone wants to feel loved, so he gives it to them as best he can. He shows his love to everyone in the band, to those who work with them, to their fans and supporters, and even to those he passes on the street. It helps, he thinks. Even if not many of them realise at the time.

And, of course. There’s Louis.

Harry’s thought the longest and hardest about what Louis is to the band. Because he’s got so much sass and personality in such a small body, that he can’t help it when it bubbles over. He’s so protective over the four of them, always jumping in and coming to their defence when an interviewer pushes too far on the subject, or when somebody says something about them that he doesn’t like. He’s got cheekbones to cut diamond and piercing blue eyes, and he’s not afraid to use them to his advantage to cut haters down.

Louis makes them all feel important; makes Harry feel important, as if he’s worth the world, and anyone who thinks otherwise can just back off if they don’t want an earful from Louis. He’s fierce, and dangerous to meddle with, but also so, so kind, and observant, and reliable; Harry’s rock to ground him from the mess that spread after Zayn’s departure.

So, Harry thought long and hard about what Louis is. And he’s come to a conclusion.

Louis is the dagger.

But, most importantly to Harry, Louis is the dagger to his rose.

Because Louis represents harsh reality when Harry gets too absorbed in his love for everything and everyone, but Louis also represents the union of opposites; of sticking together even when opinions are different; even when people have different ways of dealing with problems; even when everyone is represented by different things.

Because things can - no, will - change and get better.

And then Niall will no longer have to continue being the only sunshine for the entire band, and Liam will no longer have to be the loyal puppy and teddy bear that has to deal with all of their problems, and Harry won’t have to be the one constantly pointing out the beautiful things in life, and Louis won’t have to always feel the need to jump to their defence because of their own self-doubt.

But, even when everything is fully mended to perfection, Harry wants something to never change.

For as long as Louis is willing, Harry wants for Louis to be the dagger to his rose.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> My main [Tumblr](https://hazzilyeverafter.tumblr.com/) and my side blog for [One Direction](https://hazzilyeverafter-onedirection.tumblr.com/).


End file.
